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Orange County Tourist Tax: Commissioners Approve More Than 780 Million Dollars in Visitor-Funded Projects

November 15, 2026 Claire Donovan

Orange Countys 6 percent tax on hotel stays will fund a Dr. Phillips Center expansion, a Camping World Stadium garage and UCF facilities. Why the money is fenced off from roads and schools.

2 minute read

TOURIST NEWS · TOURIST TAX

Orange County commissioners have voted to commit more than $780 million in Tourist Development Tax money — the 6% tax added to hotel stays and short-term rentals of less than six months — to a slate of tourism-related projects, after a special meeting on Monday, October 19, 2026, that the county announced in advance through its official newsroom. It is the largest single allocation of visitor-paid money in the county’s recent history, and almost none of it can legally be spent on the things residents ask about most.

Where the money goes

The approved list, as reported from the commission’s vote, includes $350 million to expand the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts, $75 million to renew the county’s Application Review Committee grant program, $52.5 million for a parking garage at Camping World Stadium, $50 million for a new Natural Resource Tourism Infrastructure Grant Program, $50 million for an Eco-Tourism Grant Program, and $46 million for a new track facility and an expanded soccer stadium at the University of Central Florida. The Orange County Convention Center received no new money in this round.

The vote followed the county’s Tourist Development Tax Citizen Advisory Task Force process: the task force’s co-chairs and county staff presented a final report and a financial capacity analysis to the board on August 25, 2026, according to the county, and staff then evaluated additional projects and built the funding scenario the board acted on in October.

Why residents should care about a tax they don’t pay

The county’s own budget documents put the scale plainly: Tourist Development Tax collections reached a record $384 million in 2025, in a year when Central Florida welcomed a record 76.7 million visitors, and collections are projected at about $400 million. The Convention Center alone is budgeted to host 185 events this fiscal year, generating an estimated $5 billion in economic impact and more than 2.3 million attendees, the county says.

But Florida law restricts the tax to tourism purposes — convention facilities, stadiums, arts venues, destination marketing and the like. It cannot be spent on roads, schools or general government, however full the account looks. That restriction is the standing argument in every TDT debate: the money is real, it is large, and it is fenced. Residents feel the visitor economy in traffic, wages and housing costs; the tax it generates can build a performing-arts expansion but not the road to it.

What happens next

Allocations are not construction. Each project now moves through agreements, design and phasing, and this desk will track the major ones — the Dr. Phillips Center expansion and the Camping World Stadium garage first — as they reach the commission again. Follow the beat on the Tourist News hub; the county’s visitor-economy baseline is in our Tourism Guide.

Sources & notes

Orange County Government (newsroom.ocfl.net) — official notice, October 15, 2026: Board of County Commissioners special meeting, October 19, 2026, on Tourist Development Tax funding and future allocations; task force final report presented August 25, 2026.
WFTV (Cox Media Group), October 20, 2026 — report of the commission’s vote approving more than $780 million in TDT spending and the project list.
Orange County FY 2026–27 budget — TDT collections of $384 million in 2025 (record), about $400 million projected; 76.7 million visitors in 2025; Convention Center 185 events / $5 billion estimated impact / 2.3 million attendees.

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